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The Vanyar are the highest of the High Elves. According to legend, the clan was founded by Imin, the first Elf to awake in Cuiviénen, his wife Iminyë, and their twelve companions. At this time, they were called the Minyar (Q: "first ones", pron. [ˈmiɲar]). However, it was Ingwë, the first Vanya to travel with Oromë to Valinor, who became their king. They were the first to reach Beleriand after the Great Journey.

All of the Vanyar journeyed to Valinor before the beginning of the Years of the Sun, and remained there. They are said to have the greatest skill in poetry of all the Elves, and Manwë and Varda love them for this.

In the late manuscript The Shibboleth of Fëanor (ca. 1968), the Vanyar are also called Ingwi. Christopher Tolkien notes that this might be the only use of the term since the Lhammas (1930s), when Ingwi was a name for an early conception of the Lindar (that is, being the first clan of Elves, the house and people of Ingwë).[8]